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December 31, 2007
2007 Weekly local football review
(AP photo; previous weekly reviews here)
The Texans (8-8) beat the Jaguars (11-5) junior varsity team to achieve their first non-losing season in the team's six year history. The difference in this one was two kickoff returns for TD's and a fumble recovery to set up another by Texans' WR Andre Davis, who the Texans picked up off the scrap heap just before the beginning of the season. Talk about a nice bargain buy.So, with the final game of the season in the books, now the season of unending media analysis of the Texans' sixth season opens. The lead-up to the game prompted yet another incoherent outburst from Chronicle sportswriter Richard Justice (compare that to this largely contradictory blog post from less than two weeks ago), whose inept coverage of the Texans over the past several years (see here and here) rivals fellow Chronicle columnist Jose de Jesus Ortiz's coverage of the Stros for sheer incompetence. For an even-handed and insightful evaluation of the Texans' season by position, see this Lance Zierlein blog post.
Despite their 8-8 finish, the harsh reality is that the Texans have not made much progress since the end of Year Three, when they finished with a similar 7-9 record and comparable statistics versus the league. Based on the steady progress of the Texans during their first three seasons of existence, former Texans coach Dom Capers made the ill-fated decision to make several fundamental changes on both offense and defense between Year Three and Four in an effort to elevate the Texans to playoff-contention status. As we all know now, those decisions had precisely the opposite effect, leading to a disastrous 2-14 record in Year Four.
That experience prompted Texans owner Bob McNair to clean house, change the management structure of the team and effectively start over with an untested assistant coach as the new head coach. Through Year Two of the Gary Kubiak era, there is still no clear indication whether the Texans will be any more successful under Kubiak than those first Texans teams were under Capers.
On the positive side, the defense has a nucleus of young players with potential, so with proper seasoning, that unit could develop into an above-league average unit over the next couple of seasons. Similarly, Kubiak & Co. have made a number of savvy personnel moves, particularly in improving the wide receiving corps. On the other hand, Kubiak's supposed area of expertise -- i.e., the offense -- has been plagued by a couple of really bad personnel decisions, initially the decision to keep QB David Carr, then the decision to go long on over-the-hill running back, Ahman Green.
Is Kubiak the coach to turn the Texans fortunes around? I don't know, but I am impressed by his willingness to recognize mistakes and make changes, which reflects that he is not burdened with the stubborness that often undermines NFL head coaches. Inasmuch as continuity in coaching staffs and personnel is one of the most common elements of successful NFL teams, my sense is that Kubiak has shown enough that McNair would be prudent to endure the mistakes of this young coach on the hope that such stability will ultimately be rewarded with a winner. Goodness knows McNair deserves it, given the excellent facilities and support that he has always provided to the Texans football operation.
But just don't count on big improvement next season. The better bet for a Texans playoff drive is the 2009 season.
Texas Longhorns 52 Arizona State 34
The Longhorns (10-3) dominated Arizona State (10-3) in an entertaining Holiday Bowl game that firmly established Longhorn Coach Mack Brown's son-in-law -- Chris Jessie (pictured above) -- as one of the most unlikely "almost-scapegoats" in the storied history of Texas football. Despite the satisfying win, the Horns have several big issues to resolve during the off-season, such as shoring up a leaky defensive unit and replacing star RB Jamaal Charles if he elects to turn pro. The Horns are loaded with talent, but it's unlikely that they can overtake Oklahoma in the Big 12 South without substantial improvement in their defensive unit.
Do you think it's possible that A&M's Alamo Bowl experience could have gone any worse?First, an Aggie Yell Leader at a pre-game pep rally exclaimed that legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was "on his death bed" and "needed a casket." Check it out:
The Yell Leader's bad judgment prompted embarrassed university officials to fall over themselves apologizing to Paterno, who was gracious in playing down the incident.Then, after taking a quick 14-0 lead in the game, the Aggies turned the ball over three times in allowing Penn State to dominate the rest of the game. The killer turned out to be a failed fourth-and-less than one yard call midway through the 4th quarter inside the Penn State five yard line. Rather than simply diving for the first down, Aggie QB Stephen McGee fell down for a loss on a busted option play while pile-driving 275 lbs RB Jovorskie Lane sat on the bench. That prompted Lane to break down crying (h/t Jay Christensen).
Thus, the demoralizing Alamo Bowl defeat was a fitting end to the disappointing Coach Fran era at A&M. New Aggie coach Mike Sherman has a number of pressing personnel issues to address, not the least of which is what to do about QB McGee, who returns next season for his senior season. A QB's performance is often adversely affected by peer effects, so McGee's poor showing this season may be the product of an obsolescent option offense and below-average WR's. But my sense is that McGee does not pick up secondary receivers well enough to flourish in the pro-style passing offense that Sherman wants to implement next season. As a result, don't be surprised to see a new QB under center for the Aggies next season.
As noted earlier here, it's far from clear at this point as to whether former University of Houston head football coach Art Briles made the right career decision in leaving UH to take the Baylor head coaching position.However, one thing is clear. Briles' decision to bail out on his UH team before its bowl game -- along with taking his top two offensive assistants with him -- probably cost the Cougars their first win in a bowl game in 27 years. The way Briles abandoned his UH team has hurt his reputation, particularly considering that new A&M coach Mike Sherman and new UH coach Kevin Sumlin both completed their responsibilities with their current teams before assuming responsibility for their new jobs. Briles will need his good reputation if things don't work out at Baylor, which is not an easy place to improve one's reputation as a football coach even under the best of circumstances.
Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
December 30, 2007
What's wrong with the Houston Rockets?
Dave Berri breaks it down. The bottom line is that no player on the Houston Rockets is playing as well as they did last year. Moreover, Tracy McGrady is no longer a dominant player -- indeed, he is now just another above-average NBA player. Add in the fact that, as of mid-December, Yao Ming ranks as only the 9th most productive center in the NBA so far this season and you have all the ingredients necessary for an underachieving team.
My younger daughter and I took in the Rockets' victory over the Toronto Rapters at Toyota Center on Saturday night, which pulled the Rockets back to a .500 record (15-15) on the season. The Rockets were playing the backend of back-to-back games, so they pulled out the win even though they played without McGrady (who is out for a few games with a sore knee) and were a bit sluggish overall.
However, my sense from watching the game is that Rockets Coach Rick Adelman has finally settled on his rotation. Yao will take most of the minutes at center with Luis Scola taking the balance, Chuck Hayes, Scola and promising newcomer Carl Landry will share the minutes at power forward, McGrady, Bonzi Wells and Shane Battier will share the minutes at small forward, and McGrady, Wells and Luther Head will share the minutes at the two guard. Rafer Alston and speedy rookie Aaron Brooks -- both of whom looked good on Saturday night -- will share the minutes at the point guard position. Once McGrady returns, my bet is that Battier is the one who has his minutes reduced from last season more than anyone else.
That's not a bad rotation. If Adelman sticks with it and barring injury, I will be surprised if the Rockets do not improve their record substantially over the 52-game balance of the season.
Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 29, 2007
More on the Mitchell Report
Following on my posts earlier this month on the Mitchell Commission Report, I have been meaning to pass along several additional items:
Malcolm Gladwell follows his earlier post on the Mitchell Report with another one in which he makes the following observations:
An aging pitcher is suffering from a variety of persistent injuries. They are healing slowly. He is depressed and lethargic, and anxious about his career. He goes to see his doctor. The doctor finds that the patient's testosterone count is low. He prescribes the pitcher a small dose of testosterone, as part of his rehab. The patient is desperate, and the doctor agrees to experiment with testosterone, and see if it speeds recovery.Questions:
1. Has the pitcher violated MLB's drug policy? As far as I can tell, yes. Testosterone is on baseball's list of banned substances.
2. Has the patient violated the law? Of course not. Testosterone is an FDA approved medication.
Next, John Brattain over at the Hardball Times examines the actions of both MLB management and the MLB Players Association management in regard to performance enhancing drugs, and his conclusions are not pretty for either group:
Management didn’t care; player turnover is a fact of life in baseball. Somebody is always available to take the spot of somebody not performing should someone become injured due to steroid usage. They found an indirect ally in the MLBPA; higher profits translated into higher salaries and the interests of the salary bar were being served. Citing privacy issues, [MLBPA President Donald] Fehr and [key Fehr aide Gene] Orza long resisted drug testing. This suited ownership just fine and it finally took government action to get both to deal with the issue in a substantive way.Who was protecting the players now? Both sides were allowing them to take risks with their health to play in the major leagues.
Finally, Jonathan Cole and Stephen Stigler review the anecdotal evidence and reach the following conclusion after comparing the "before" and "after" performance of the alleged PED-taking ballplayers cited in the Mitchell Commission Report:
But the results here are intriguing, and could send a simple message to America’s youth who aspire to fame and fortune as professional baseball players: Don’t use these drugs — not only can they increase the risk of serious illness, they also don’t enhance your performance on the diamond.
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December 28, 2007
Review of The Player Course at The Woodlands
It's been awhile since I've posted a review of one of Houston's largely underappreciated large number of fine golf courses (previous ones are here, here and here). So, I'm going to pass along a couple more during this holiday season, the first of which is The Player Course here in my hometown of The Woodlands, Texas.
The Player Course is one of the newest of the seven golf courses that wind through The Woodlands, the bustling planned community/golf haven of about 85,000 people located 30 miles north of downtown Houston. The Player Course is named after PGA Tour great Gary Player, who designed the course as a part of The Woodlands' effort to have one local golf course designed by each of the former Big Three of the PGA Tour -- Player, Arnold Palmer (The Palmer Course at The Woodlands, opened in 1991) and Jack Nicklaus (The Nicklaus Course at Carlton Woods, opened in 2001). When Player completed the Player Course in 2002, The Woodlands was the only community in the U.S. that had a golf course designed by each of the Big Three. It may still be the only one.
Player was the third of the Big Three to design a course in The Woodlands and his legendary competitive nature drove him to produce a real gem. Located in the western part of The Woodlands, the terrain produced a golf course with gently rolling, tree-lined fairways, numerous lakes and wetland areas, natural grass backdrops and deep bunkers. As with the other courses in The Woodlands, The Player Course is quite enjoyable to walk while playing.
The course is not easy. Although a very good course overall, I think that Player went overboard on about five green complexes that ratchet up the difficulty of the course unnecessarily. The course can be stretched to over 7,200 yards from the tips, but Player also installed a variety of tees that allow for less lengthy alternatives all the way down to 6,200 yards. The Slope rating from the back tees is 151, which is one of the highest in the Houston area and in the state. By way of comparison, the Slope rating from the back tees of the Tournament Course at Redstone -- where the Shell Houston Open PGA Tour event is played -- is 138. As a result, The Player Course has already hosted several U.S. Open qualifiers and top amateur tournaments during its 4 1/2 year existence. Although still quite young, The Player Course is clearly one of the top 15 courses in the Houston area.
The pictures below are from a round that my brother Bud and I played at the Player Course this past September. We played from the green tees, which were at about 6,700 yards that day (140 Slope rating). Take a moment and enjoy a quick trip through The Player Course at The Woodlands. Here is the Flickr slideshow of the course (click under the picture in the slideshow for my commentary on each picture).
Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 27, 2007
Stan Binion, R.I.P.
Houston lost one of the true gentlemen of the Houston legal community on Christmas Day.
Longtime Houston trial attorney, Stan Binion, died on Tuesday at the age of 71. Stan was a charming man who was a fixture of the local trial bar over his 40+ year legal career, primarily on the defense side in business cases. I met Stan as a young attorney back in 1982 shortly after I started my original law firm with a couple of other young friends, and he could not have been more gracious and supportive. Over the years, I worked on the same side and against him in several cases, and it's a tribute to Stan's fine character that he was just as cordial and professional to me when he was opposing counsel as he was when we were co-counsel.
Born in Brownwood in West Texas, golf actually brought Stan to Houston. An outstanding high school golfer, Stan was recruited to the University of Houston by the legendary UH golf coach, Dave Williams. Stan sunk a key birdie putt late in the final round of an NCAA Golf Championship in helping the Cougars to one of their record 16 NCAA National Championships that they won under Coach Williams.
After graduating from UH, Stan became one of the finest amateur golfers in the area and one of the best players at Champions Golf Club, which is saying something. Over the years, Stan and stout local amateur John Paul Cain won several Champions Cups, the annual amateur golf tournament at Champions that consistently generates one of the best fields in amateur golf. Stan also qualified to play in the US Senior Open and several US Senior Amateurs.
Stan graduated from UH with a business degree in 1960, obtained his law degree from UH Law Center in 1962 and went on to become a tireless supporter of his alma mater. He was a former president of the UH Alumni Association and a lifetime member of the H Association of former UH letterman -- in fact, I bumped into Stan at most UH football and basketball games that I have attended over the years. Stan also donated his time in helping fellow UH golf alums Jim Nance (the CBS sports announcer) and PGA Tour pros Fred Couples and Blaine McCallister in developing and putting on their successful Three Amigos Charity Golf Tournament, which raised funds for the UH Athletic Scholarship Fund and other charities.
Finally, one anecdote sticks out in my mind in remembering Stan. In the mid-1980's, Stan donated his time in representing the UH in connection with an NCAA Infractions Committee investigation and subsequent hearing. In the 1990's, when Stan found out that I was involved in representing a UH coach in a UH-related NCAA Infractions Committee investigation, he called me and offered to provide any help, insight and background information that I needed. We were able to resolve that investigation favorably for the University, so I didn't need to call on Stan's assistance. But I deeply appreciated his offer -- it says much about the kind of man Stan Binion was.
A Memorial Service for Stan will be conducted this Saturday at 2 p.m. at George Lewis & Sons at 1010 Bering and the family will receive friends at a reception afterward. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made payable to "University of Houston" with "Stan Binion Memorial Fund" on the memo line addressed to the UH Athletic Department, 3100 Cullen Blvd., Houston, Texas 77204-6002.
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December 26, 2007
Damning with faint praise
As this earlier post noted, Houstonians are currently enduring a glut of sports talk radio stations. With the rare exception of a show such as Charlie Pallilo's, the shows on these stations range from merely unlistenable to truly offensive. To make matters worse, Houston's mainstream professional sports teams are currently horrid, from the Texans' historic mediocrity, to the Rockets' decade of playoff incompetence, to the Stros' downward trend. What on earth is there to talk about?
At any rate, while cruising around doing pre-Christmas errands the other day, one of my sons had a local sports talk radio show on his car radio. One of the talk show hosts made the following observation about the Rockets -- who have lost 14 of their last 21 games -- and the Texans, who had just been thoroughly waxed by the Colts:
"Compared to the Rockets, I am quite optimistic about the Texans."
My son and I cracked up laughing. The host, on the other hand, was dead serious. That pretty well sums up the quality of discourse on Houston sports talk radio these days.
Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
December 25, 2007
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays to all Clear Thinkers from my lovely wife Susan and me. We appreciate you checking on our small slice of the blogosphere from time to time.
In my Hayes Carll post from a few weeks ago, I noted the grand tradition of Texas songwriters, one of whom is Robert Earl Keen. A number of years ago, Keen wrote and recorded one of the funniest Texas-oriented Christmas songs that I have ever heard, and now he has the video below to go along with it. For a slice of quintessential Texas culture, don't miss it:
Finally, each Christmas season since 1949, the Wall Street Journal has published the late Vermont Royster's classic op-ed In Hoc Anno Domini, which is passed along in its entirety after the break below. Regardless of one's religious persuasion or whether one has a religion at all, Royster's short essay is a wonderful reminder of the extraordinary impact that an unlikely Jewish man of 2000 years ago had on the course of the human condition:
When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar.Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so.
But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression -- for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar?
There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?
Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.
And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.
So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders.
But it came to pass for a while in divers places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light. The voice said, Haste ye. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
Along the road to Damascus the light shone brightly. But afterward Paul of Tarsus, too, was sore afraid. He feared that other Caesars, other prophets, might one day persuade men that man was nothing save a servant unto them, that men might yield up their birthright from God for pottage and walk no more in freedom.
Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter's star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness.
And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethren, the Galatians, the words he would have us remember afterward in each of the years of his Lord:
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
December 24, 2007
Behind the scenes in the Skilling appeal and the Nigerian Barge case
I normally throttle down blogging during the holiday season to just one post a day, but I wanted to pass along something that you don't see every day in connection with former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling's appeal of his convictions and in the Nigerian Barge case involving the re-trial of three former Merrill Lynch bankers.
As this CNBC news release reports, the Fifth Circuit last week ordered -- over the Department of Justice's strenuous opposition -- that the DOJ prosecutors must deliver to Skilling's defense team the FBI's notes of their interviews with former Enron CFO, Andrew Fastow. Then, this past Friday, U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein cited the Fifth Circuit's order in Skilling's case in granting the Merrill bankers' motion in the Nigerian Barge case requiring the DOJ to turnover the same notes of the Fastow interviews to the bankers' defense teams.
The DOJ's refusal to provide the criminal defense teams the notes of the Fastow interviews has long been a point of contention in several Enron-related criminal cases. The defense teams suspect that the notes will show that Fastow changed his story during his extensive interviews with FBI agents. Prosecutors in the Skilling and Nigerian Barge cases have have previously refused to turnover the notes to defense attorneys and provided only a prosecution-prepared "summary" of Fastow's statements to FBI agents.
Fastow was a key witness against Skilling and was a central figure in the first Nigerian Barge trial. Thus, if the notes of the Fastow interviews reflect that prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence or induced Fastow to change his story over time, then that would be strong grounds for reversal of Skillings' conviction and dismissal of the remaining charges against the Merrill bankers.
By the way, the re-trial of Merrill bankers Dan Bayly and Robert Furst in the Nigerian Barge case is currently scheduled for January 28th, although the docket reflects a number of dispositive motions that must be ruled on before the case can proceed to trial. The re-trial against the third Merrill banker -- James Brown -- has been severed for a separate trial, which has not yet been scheduled.
Finally, Skilling's appellate team filed his reply brief this past Friday, although my sense is that the document that was filed will likely not be the final version. As with Skilling's first brief, the Skilling team has requested that the Fifth Circuit waive its page limitations for reply briefs. Consequently, once the Fifth Circuit rules on that request, the Skilling team will probably then file the final version of the reply brief, which will include tables of contents and authorities that the current version lacks. I am looking forward to reading the brief over the holidays and will pass along my thoughts after I have done so. In the meantime, both Ellen Podgor and Doug Berman have already posted their typically insightful thoughts on the brief.
Posted by Tom at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
2007 Weekly local football review
(Michael Conroy/AP Photo; previous reviews here)
Call it the dog days of the long and arduous NFL season. The Texans (7-8) are a young and uneven team whose only motivation at this point is attempting to achieve the best record in franchise history (8-8), which isn't saying much. On the other hand, the Colts (13-2) coming into this game didn't have much reason to put out much effort given that had already clinched their fifth straight AFC South title, the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs. So, what was the result?
Peyton Manning carved up the Texans' defense like it was a holiday turkey in generating a season-high 458 yards and 33 first downs. The performance was a big step backward for the Texans' defense, which had been showing progress over the past month or so. Meanwhile, after a couple of productive games over the past two weeks, the Texans' offense reverted to form in generating only 299 yards, even though none of the Colts regular defensive linemen played and the Texans were playing against the Colts' reserves for much of the second half.
Oh well, the Texans still have a decent chance to achieve the best record in franchise history next Sunday at Reliant Stadium if they beat the Jaguars (11-4), who have also locked up their playoff spot and will be playing reserves liberally throughout the game. Another loss for the Texans would leave them at 7-9 for the season, which is the record I predicted for the Texans before the season. Regardless of the season-ending record, however, it's hard at this point to project that this team is going to make substantial improvement in its record next season.
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December 23, 2007
That Christmas spirit between law partners
Christmas cheer from the incomparable Stu Rees of Stu's Views:
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December 22, 2007
Markets in foreclosure desperation?
I swear, you can't make this stuff up.
A Dallas area couple who were in default on their home mortgage filed a bankruptcy case in an effort to avoid a foreclosure sale of their home. However, they ultimately were unable to fulfill the terms of an agreed order that they entered into with the lender during the bankruptcy case, so the lender posted the property for a non-judicial foreclosure sale. So far, nothing unusual.
But a few days before the date of the foreclosure sale, the lender received a fax notice from "Jason" that the Texas debtors had transferred a 1% interest in the property to an individual living in California. And, to put icing on that cake, the Californian had just filed her own bankruptcy case, although she did not list the 1% interest in her bankruptcy schedules. Inasmuch as the lender did not have time before the scheduled foreclosure sale to hire California counsel and get the automatic stay modified as to the 1% interest, the lender passed on the foreclosure sale of the debtors' Texas home.
But this is where the story really gets interesting. The California debtor knew nothing about receiving the 1% interest from the Texas debtors and claimed no ownership interest in the Texas debtors' homestead! As Dallas-based U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stacey Jernigan explains in this decision, the foregoing has become a common practice of anonymous "bankruptcy servicers" that prey on debtors in bankruptcy cases who are facing loss of their homestead to foreclosure.
Here is how the scam worked in this case. The anonymous servicer (approximately 40 (!) of them contacted the Texas debtors to offer their "services") assured the debtors that the servicers could "legally" stop the foreclosure by arranging an eve-of-foreclosure conveyance of a fractional interest in the homestead to one of their California affiliates that would then file bankruptcy to stop the foreclosure. The cost? Just $650 monthly so long as the servicer's "services" were "needed."
In reality, no such affiliate of the servicer existed and the servicer simply inserted the unsuspecting California debtor's name in the deed of the fractional interest. Then, "Jason" sent his fax informing the lender that the automatic stay in the bankruptcy case of the California "owner" of the 1% interest in the Texas homestead enjoined the lender from proceeding with the foreclosure sale.
Inasmuch as this scam only delayed the foreclosure sale in this case for a month, the scammers received just two of the $650 payments before the debtors realized that they have been had. But the scam artists are apparently getting a whole bunch of such $650 payments from desperate debtors who are looking for some way to keep their homesteads. Judge Jernigan looks as if she is intent on getting to the bottom of this, so stay tuned.
Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 21, 2007
Fifth Circuit Judicial Council slams Judge Porteous
Until recently, it had been years since the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council had sanctioned a federal judge. As of yesterday, the Council has now sanctioned two judges in less than three months.
We already know about the case of Galveston-based U.S. District Judge Sam Kent (previous posts here) -- the Council recently deferred further disciplinary action for 90 days in that case pending the outcome of a Department of Justice investigation.
And yesterday, in this strongly-worded order, the Judicial Council recommended that the U.S. Judicial Council refer New Orleans-based U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr to Congress for impeachment (Peter Lattman's WSJ Law Blog post first reported on the order). The Fifth Circuit panel's proposed impeachment referral is based on findings that Judge Porteous engaged in the following misconduct:
Filing "numerous false statements under oath during his and his wife's Chapter 13 bankruptcy, including filing the petition under a false name." This copy of Judge Porteous' chapter 13 case docket reflects that his case was ultimately administered under the name of "Gabriel T. Porteous." However, the original petition in the case reflects that he filed the case under the name "G.T. Ortous" and then filed an amended petition about ten days after the original petition in which he corrected the name to "Gabriel T. Porteous."Hiding assets from his bankruptcy estate, failing to list all creditors and not scheduling in his bankruptcy case creditors holding gambling-related claims against him;
Getting short-term credit from casinos after a bankruptcy judge ordered him to obtain prior approval of the court or the chapter 13 trustee before incurring any debt;
Making unauthorized and undisclosed payments to "preferred creditors" during his chapter 13 case and engaging in fraudulent conduct with regard to the claim of Regions Bank;
Accepting "gifts and things of value" from lawyers with cases before him;
Denying a motion to recuse in a case without revealing to the parties that he had a "history of financial relationships" with at least one attorney for the movant; and
Failing to disclose gifts from attorneys on his annual judicial financial disclosure statements for 1994-2000 and failing to disclose debt that should have been on the 2000 statement.
The Council's order was signed by Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Edith Jones, who is one of the leading bankruptcy law experts on the Fifth Circuit. The Council ordered that, for the time being, Judge Porteous will not be assigned any bankruptcy cases or appeals, or cases in which the United States is a party. He is authorized to continue handling other civil cases and administrative duties until such time as he is required to dedicate his time to the defense of any further proceedings against him.
The Judicial Council's order is actually the culmination of at least two investigations of Judge Porteous over the past several years. The Judicial Council's investigation was prompted by information gathered during the FBI's "Operation Wrinkled Robe," which was an investigation of the relationship between Jefferson Parish, Louisiana state judges and New Orleans bail bondsman, Louis Marcotte. Judge Porteous served as a Jefferson Parish state judge before President Clinton appointed him to the federal bench in 1994. Marcotte was convicted of racketeering charges as a result of the Operation Wrinkled Robe probe several years ago and is currently in prison. Judge Porteous has not been charged with a crime as a result of Operation Wrinkled Robe.
In 2003, Judge Porteous recused himself from all civil cases involving the federal government and all criminal cases after a relative of Marcotte alleged that Marcotte had paid for Judge Porteous' car repairs and arranged other favors for the Judge. In May, 2006, Judge Porteous took a medical leave after the sudden death of his wife in December, 2005. He returned to the bench in June of this year.
Peter Henning provides this typically insightful blog post on the legal issues raised by the Judicial Council's order.
Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Checking in on the oil patch
I've been meaning to pass along a couple of interesting items regarding oil production and prices.
First, several of the bloggers over at the Oil Drum have launched an intriguing new project -- a Wikipedia project in which they and a number of other contributors are accumulating data on all the major, new oil projects around the world and contributing the data to a single database that can be used to document historical trends and attempt to forecast future trends in oil production. The contributors are focusing on basic data for all of the major projects that would add new oil production capacity, including estimates of the peak flow when such information is available. My compliments to the creators of this excellent information resource.
Meanwhile, this John Cassidy column predicts that the price of oil has peaked for the time being and that prices will begin falling to the $50 a barrel range:
. . . the experts who are predicting the worst, based on geology and geopolitics, are missing the crucial role that economic incentives play in determining the price of crude. The tripling of oil prices since the summer of 2003 has unleashed forces that within the next two or three years will bring oil prices tumbling back down to below $50 a barrel. Looking even further ahead, prices could easily fall to $30 a barrel or even lower. So before you trade in your Cadillac Escalade for a Toyota Prius, think twice: $1.50-a-gallon gas might not be gone forever.
In fact, Clear Thinkers favorite James Hamilton also thinks that oil prices have peaked.
Posted by Tom at 12:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Self-deception about calories
This Gina Kolata/NY Times article (previous posts here) explains how many people continue to misconstrue exercise as a primary means of weight-control by overestimating the number of calories they expend during exercise. A well-structured exercise program can assist in controlling a person's weight over the long term, but it really doesn't have much effect on weight over the short term.
On the other hand, my anecdotal experience is that many of the same folks who overestimate the amount of calories that they expend during exercise dramatically underestimate the amount of calories that they are consuming, particularly in regard to restaurant food.
I'm convinced that the combination of these misunderstandings -- along with not having a clear understanding of the difference between exercise and recreation -- has much to do with the obesity syndrome that many Americans battle throughout their lives.
Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
December 20, 2007
Criminalizing the legal advisors
Regular readers of this blog know that the federal government's criminalization of business since Enron has been steadily encroaching on professionals who provide advice to business interests. First, it was Arthur Andersen, then the Merrill Lynch bankers in the Nigerian Barge case, and then KPMG.
Now, Nathan Koppel of the WSJ Law Blog reports that the Department of Justice has thrown down the criminal gauntlet on legal advisors by indicting former Refco, Inc outside counsel, Joseph P. Collins, the former head of Mayer, Brown & Platt's derivatives section. A copy of the indictment is here and my previous posts on the Refco case are here.
The indictment crosses the Rubicon in terms of the govenment's willingness to prosecute an outside lawyer for merely advising a client in regard to structuring transactions that are not intrinsically illegal, but it nevertheless raises more questions than it answers. As is typical of most business prosecutions over the past several years that criminalize questionable business judgment rather than clear white collar criminal acts such as embezzlement, the indictment of Collins is a jumble of conclusory allegations of fraud without any specific allegations of Collins' fraudulent conduct.
Although inartfully drafted, the government's indictment essentially alleges that Collins assisted former Refco CEO and controlling shareholder Phillip Bennett in using Refco's credit to reduce indebtedness to Refco of an affiliate controlled by Bennett. That's not a crime, but the government alleges that Collins committed a crime by aiding Bennett in misleading Refco auditors and investors in not telling them about the use of Refco's credit to reduce the affiliate's debt to Refco. In addition, the government alleges that Collins aided Bennett in covering up from investors the dilution of Bennett's ownership interest in Refco to BAWAG, which is characterized as "a longtime Refco customer." Again, the government hinges its criminal case against Collins on the alleged non-disclosure of that dilution.
What's curious about all of this is that numerous lawyers, accountants and investment bankers scrutinized and presumably profited from Refco over the past several years in connection with various investments in the firm, including its well-publicized public offering that valued the company at $4 billion five months before it disintegrated into a bankruptcy case. Not only did none of these professionals uncover the alleged fraud, but none of them other than Collins has been targeted as a criminal. Moreover, as this earlier post asks, if Bennett and Collins were orchestrating a massive fraud at Refco, then why on earth did they take it public where discovery of the fraud would likely lead to far more draconian consequences than if Refco had remained private?
Oh well, I suppose that question will be sorted out eventually. An ominous sign for both Bennett and Collins is that former Refco Capital Markets vice-president, Santo C. Maggio, pled guilty yesterday in New York to two counts of securities fraud, one count of conspiracy and one count of wire fraud under a cooperation agreement with prosecutors. In the meantime, it looks as if Collins and Bennett are not in lockstep with regard to defending their criminal cases. The initial public comments of Collins' attorney suggest that Collins will assert that he had been duped by Refco's fraud. Although that position can't be pleasing to the Bennett defense, it is certainly understandable from Collins and Mayer Brown's standpoint. It appears that Mayer Brown is underwriting Collins' defense and probably will continue to do so as long as Collins is taking the position that any failure of his legal counsel was the result of being duped or, at worst, negligence.
Maintaining that position would appear to be extremely important to Mayer Brown, which has had been having its own business problems over the past year or so (see here, here and here). If a jury finds that Collins was engaged in criminal fraud with regard to Refco, then such a finding would likely constitute grounds for any insurer or reinsurer of Mayer Brown to deny coverage for damage claims arising from Refco-related civil litigation against the firm, as well as any legal fees generated in the defense of such litigation. In that turns out to be the case, Mayer Brown's resulting business problems may make the ones that the firm has been dealing with over the past year look like a piece of cake in comparison.
As always, Larry Ribstein and Peter Henning have insightful thoughts on various implications of the Collins indictment.
Posted by Tom at 12:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Mitchell Report redux
Following on my post on the Mitchell Report, the following are a few interesting observations from the past several days:
Art DeVany agrees with me that MLB didn't get it's money's worth and provides a rather interesting and simple test to evaluate whether a player was likely to have used steroids;Malcolm Gladwell asks "So what, exactly, is wrong with an athlete--someone who makes a living with their body--taking medication to speed their recovery from injury?"
The New York Times Murray Chass picks up on one of the observations from my post -- that is, there is not much original work product in the Mitchell Report.
Former Florida Marlins and Cincinnati Reds trainer Larry Starr, who was a trainer in the big leagues for 30 years, describes how MLB management and the MLB Players' Association soft-pedaled the PED problem even after being advised in 1988 that use of PED's was becoming commonplace among players.
Finally, Richard Landau and Louis H. Philipson, who are both Professors of Medicine at the University of Chicago Medical School, wrote the following letter to the Wall Street Journal explaining why the risks of taking human growth hormone in an effort to improve athletic performance and endurance, or recover from a non-live threatening injury, is a quintessential example of taking a flyer with too much downside risk:
While some stories noted the many negative effects of androgenic steroids, we have not seen any explanation as to why taking "natural" human growth hormone is also a really bad idea. While growth hormone is necessary for children in particular, athletes are tempted to take growth hormone without a demonstrated positive result on performance. They should note what happens in the disease called acromegaly, a condition of too much growth hormone. In this disease, excess growth hormone causes growth of hands, lips, tongue, feet, nose, chin, forehead and liver. In short, most tissues and organs in the body will enlarge, including the heart, sometimes to the point of heart failure. Diabetes, decreased interest and ability in sex, fatigue, excessive sweating, and disordered sleep are also part of this syndrome.The only important FDA-approved indications for giving growth hormone are failure to grow due to lack of growth hormone and the HIV-associated wasting syndrome. Despite the relative rarity of these problems, there are nine formulations of growth hormone on the market today, and all list diabetes, leukemia, muscle aches and pain, headache, weakness, stiffness and swelling of male breasts as potential side effects, as well as insomnia, nausea, hypothyroidism and increased blood fats. Also mentioned are pancreatitis and fatigue. Every manufacturer recommends periodic safety monitoring of blood sugar, thyroid blood tests, skin and heart exams. We could easily name quite a few drugs that have been withdrawn from the market with less potential for harm than growth hormone.
Not a single clinical trial has effectively demonstrated that the metabolic effects of growth hormone, even including a temporary increase in lean body mass, have resulted in improved performance. The view of some athletes that a few injections of the hormone might have beneficial effects on sore arms has never been rigorously tested, but is very unlikely to be effective. The risks clearly outweigh the benefits. Our young athletes need to be warned that large muscles are not good muscles, and that these problems are not rare "side effects" but the natural consequence of excess growth hormone, a hormone that affects almost every tissue, not just muscles -- and usually not for the better. Taking any form of growth hormone in the hope of improved athletic performance is misinformed at best, and any mention of this practice should explain why.
Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
What is Reyes being sentenced for again?
Following on this post from last week that pointed out the illusory nature of the financial damages attributed to former Brocade CEO Greg Reyes' backdating of stock options, the W$J's Holman Jenkins -- who has been the most lucid mainstream media voice condemning the witch hunt mentality that permeated the criminal prosecutions involving backdated stock options -- pens this column on the Reyes sentencing, in which he concludes:
Punishment should fit the crime; dozens of executives have lost jobs over backdating; a few have been asked to disgorge money and sign regulatory settlements that don't require acknowledgment of wrongdoing. Even the trial lawyers have been unable to make a meal out of this scandal, thanks to an absence of demonstrable shareholder harm.The great flaw in the Reyes prosecution, which was the first of its kind, was the prosecution's attempt to fulfill the media image of backdating, rather than focusing on the venial offense it was. The government has suggested Mr. Reyes should face 10-20 years. Judge Charles Breyer, in a recommendation recently unsealed, proposed 15-21 months. Some law bloggers think it not impossible Mr. Reyes will receive a suspended sentence.
Let's hope so. Because unless we plan to send Steve Jobs and a hundred other executives to jail for backdating, it would be grossly disproportionate to inflict jail on Mr. Reyes.
Read the entire column. By the way, the Reyes sentencing has been postponed indefinitely.
Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 19, 2007
The remarkable story of Kevin Everett
Three months ago, Kevin Everett, a tight end for the Buffalo Bills who was born and raised in Port Arthur just east of Houston, suffered a serious spinal cord injury during an NFL game. At the time of the injury, there was grave doubt whether Everett would ever walk again.
As this Sports Illustrated article recounts, Everett's recovery from his serious injury has been nothing short of amazing. One of the interesting aspects of Everett's recovery is that it may have been fueled by the gutsy call of a 45 year-old orthopedic surgeon on the scene in Buffalo, but it was certainly facilitated by the remarkable rehabilitation services of the Texas Medical Center's Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (known as "TIRR") and the inspiring resolve of the 25 year old patient. TIRR is regularly ranked as one of the finest rehabilitation institutions in the U.S. and is one of the many reasons that Houston is among the world's finest medical centers.
Posted by Tom at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The pixie dust theory
It has something to do with subsidies for ethanol.
Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
An appropriate sentence in an inappropriate case
This earlier post reported on the troubling case of Connecticut criminal defense lawyer Phillip Russell, who pled guilty to assisting the commission of a felony by failing to report it while representing a church in connection with a child pornography investigation. Yesterday, Russell was sentenced to six months of home confinement, a $25,000 fine and 240 hours of community service. Russell has voluntarily agreed to a suspension of his law license and will likely be disbarred.
Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 18, 2007
That governmental Ponzi scheme
At the end of this common sense post that mostly points out that no useful public policy is served by the government denying grandparents the right to establish Health Savings Accounts for the benefit of their grandchildren, the always entertaining Art DeVany makes the following observation about a common topic on this blog -- Social Security reform (previous posts are here):
By the way, there is no such thing as social security. There are only people who are more or less secure against contingencies. They might pool their risks against these contingencies, but there is no effective way for a society to avoid risk. As a program for risk pooling, Social Security is very ineffective. It is not insurance, it is redistribution among generations. It is a Ponzi scheme because the risk pool is allocated from one generation to another. And, it is fraught with demographic risk and political risk. It will eventually go under or have to be modified substantially by disavowing the contract between generations because it is not sustainable.
Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Why is U.S. airline service so lousy?
Pico Iyer asks an interesting question: Why is service on U.S. airlines so bad compared with that in other U.S. industries? In particular, he asks:
"Why is it, I often wonder, that US carriers have far and away the worst — most surly, inattentive and often snooty — service in the world?"
Larry Ribstein figured out the answer to this enigma long ago -- creative destruction.
Posted by Tom at 12:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The British have a way of putting things
Charlie Brooker, writing in The Guardian about the dreadful quality of Christmas season television commercials, nails the line of the day (H/T Tim Worstall) with regard to the latest ad featuring those British icons, the Spice Girls:
Speaking of embarrassments, the Spice Girls have managed to imbue their long-awaited comeback with all the glamour and class of a hurried crap in a service station toilet by whoring themselves out to Tesco. The first instalment, in which the Girl Power quartet try to hide from each other while shopping for presents, represents a important landmark for the performing arts: Posh Spice becomes the first human being in history to be out-acted by a shopping trolley.
Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 17, 2007
2007 Weekly local football review
(David J. Phillip/AP Photo; previous weekly reviews here)
It was the Mario Williams show last Thursday evening as the second-year defensive end dominated the line of scrimmage in leading Texans' (7-7) to a convincing victory over the Denver Broncos (6-8). Backup QB Sage Rosenfels chipped in with his second straight efficient performance in leading the Texans' offense to one of its best outputs of the season (358 yds total offense/200 yds passing on 16-27 passes/158 yds rushing). And no one should overlook the fact that the Texans' offense is a different unit altogether when WR Andre Johnson (6 catches for 86 yds) -- who missed eight games earlier in the season with a knee injury -- is punishing opposing teams' secondaries with his special combination of size and speed. About the only thing wrong with the Texans on Thursday night was their all-red uniforms, which made the players look like a bunch of rather large lollypops.But the real story surrounding the play of Williams has been the blogosphere's exposing of the vacuous, irresponsible and mostly unwarranted criticism of Williams over his first two seasons by much of the local mainstream media. When the Texans chose Williams over local favorite Vince Young and USC RB Reggie Bush as the first player taken in the 2006 NFL Draft, the local mainstream media crucified Texans management and Williams, even though a few of us in the blogosphere noted at the time that it was not an unreasonable selection.
Then, as Stephanie Stradley masterfully recounts here, the local mainstream media continued to criticize the Texans and Williams throughout the 2006 season and even much of this season. Although Williams pass-rushing ability was hampered during the 2006 season because he played the entire season with a painful injury (planters fasciitis), Williams actually played quite well against the run. Then, this season, with his mobility no longer limited by injury, Williams has continued to play well against the run and, over the past five games, has exploded into one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL. But until recently, much of the local mainstream media continued to characterize Williams as a bust, although Williams' spectacular play over the past couple of games has generated a number of mea culpas.
As distasteful as the local mainstream media's treatment of Williams has been over most of the past two seasons, it is indicative of something important that is happening in the information marketplace. Much of the mainstream media misrepresented Williams' perfomance in order to stoke controversy (and sell papers) over the Texans' decision to pass on Young and Bush in favor of Williams. It was blogs such as Stradley's and several others that provided an objective and accurate assessment of Williams' performance.Local mainstream media management better review what happened in regard to their reporting on Williams. Stoking controversy with inaccurate reporting may sell more papers over the short term, but it's no way to engender customer loyalty in the long run. Particularly not from customers who now can obtain better information from sources other than the mainstream media.
The Texans travel to Indianapolis to play the playoff-secure Colts (12-2) next Sunday before returning home to play the Jacksonville Jaguars (10-4), which probably will be playoff-secure by the time of that game. Inasmuch as both the Colts and Jags will likely rest and protect key players in those games for the playoffs, the Texans have a decent chance to set a franchise record for wins and finish the season with their first non-losing record in their six year existence.
The University of Houston hires Kevin Sumlin as its new head coach.
After a two-week search, UH Athletic Director Dave Maggard finally selected 43 year-old University of Oklahoma assistant coach Kevin Sumlin to replace Art Briles as the head coach of the Houston Cougars. Sumlin has been an assistant coach in a half-dozen major programs, but he really first made a name for himself five years ago when he was on R.C. Slocum's final coaching staff at Texas A&M. Three games into that season, Slocum named Sumlin to replace Dino Babers as A&M's offensive coordinator and Sumlin did a good job under those difficult circumstances holding A&M's offense together and then actually improving the unit as the season wore on. OU head coach Bob Stoops took notice and hired Sumlin, who rose up through the ranks of the OU staff over the past five seasons to become co-offensive coordinator. Stoops, who is a real "coach's coach," lobbied Maggard hard on behalf of Sumlin, which is a real feather in Sumlin's hat.Having said that, the performance of Stoops' former assistants as head coaches has been somewhat checkered -- we already have reviewed Mike Leach's uneven performance at Texas Tech; Mark Mangino had a great 2007 season at Kansas, but he is only 36-36 in six seasons there; Chuck Long is 7-17 after two seasons at San Diego State; and Mike Stoops is 17-29 in four seasons at Arizona where he is on the hot seat in 2008.
As with all head coaches, Sumlin's ultimate success or failure at UH will largely depend on the quality of the coaching staff that he puts together. Jack Pardee, the other finalist for the UH job, had already assembled an impressive group of assistants to serve on his staff had he been hired. Sumlin would be smart in filling out his staff to consider several of the assistants who Pardee would have hired.
Posted by Tom at 12:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Satel on desperately seeking kidneys
Sally Satel, the receipient of Virginia Postrel's kidney (see also here), authored this amazing NY Times Magazine article in which she describes the overwhelming emotions that donors and would-be recipients go through under the current system of donating organs:
A week after my 49th birthday in January 2005, half a year after being given a diagnosis of renal failure, a friend and I were drinking coffee at a Starbucks when I wondered aloud if I would find a donor before I reached 50. I wasn’t hinting. I knew she would never offer because she was so squeamish about blood and pain. My friend, whom I met a decade before when we were both new to Washington and worked together on an advocacy project, was a little older than I; she was charming, stylish, smart — and a hypochondriac.Nor, to be honest, did I want her kidney. Anyone as anxious about health as she was would surely view donation as a white-knuckle ordeal. And the bigger the sacrifice for her, the heavier the burden of reciprocity on me. The bigger the burden on me, the more I would resent her. Then I would feel guilty over resenting her and, in turn, resent the guilt. Who could survive inside this echo chamber of reverberating emotions? Thank goodness my friend would be holding on to her kidney.
But then to my amazement, within a minute or so of my speculating when or if a donor would ever appear, she offered to do it. Later that night we talked on the phone and she rhapsodized about what a “mitzvah” it would be. Yes, her sentiments were lovely, but I felt secretly annoyed because I knew it was her habit to embark upon grandiose plans; when they fizzled, she would just shrug. I told her that giving me a kidney was out of the question — “It would be too weird,” was what I kept saying — but she persisted. I couldn’t quite believe it when she told her family of her decision (they were graciously in favor) and then had blood tests and consulted with my transplant team.Gradually, I began to believe that she meant it, and I decided to embrace her just as you might accept an in-law, as someone who could drive you a little mad but whom you loved because they were the source of something very precious to you — in my case, not a spouse but a kidney. But then after a few months she stopped talking about it. When I finally broke the silence, she said her doctor had advised against it. More likely, I thought, she was scared. I felt sorry to have put her in this position, but I was also bitter: just when would she have gotten around to telling me?
Such near-transplant experiences are not uncommon. All of the transplant candidates I spoke to, as part of my own small nonscientific sample, mentioned at least one person who promised to donate, had some tests done and then developed cold feet. Transplant teams explicitly, and properly, offer face-saving “medical alibis” to potential donors who don’t really want to go through with it, which suggests that bailing out isn’t all that rare. They might tell the person needing the transplant and the rest of the family, for example, that additional tests on the prospective donor revealed a compatibility problem or some evidence that the donor might be putting her own health at risk.
Inasmuch as the supply-demand imbalance for kidneys and other organs is well known, it seems obvious that the simple solution is to allow markets to fix the problem. However, absent political leadership to change the existing obsolescent system, many patients who need a transplant will remain relegated to long waiting lists. Many of those patients will die before their name is called. As Satel notes at the end of her article:
"But unless we stop thinking of transplantable kidneys as gifts, we will never have enough of them."
Posted by Tom at 12:05 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Giuliani's ideas on transparent government
Jim Dwyer of the NY Times reports that Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani's ideas about transparency in government are quite similar to his crimebuster practices.
Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 16, 2007
The continuing horror that is North Korea
Amidst the slow progress of the United States' diplomatic efforts to bring North Korea into the community of the world's civilized nations (previous posts on North Korea are here), this recent W$J op-ed by Shin Dong-Hyok -- who lived the first 23 years of his life in a North Korean gulag -- reminds us of the stakes to humanity involved in finding a way to release the North Korean government's death grip on North Koreans:
I was born a prisoner on Nov. 19, 1982, and until two years ago, North Korea's Political Prison Camp No. 14 was the only place I had ever called home. [. . .]I was a slave under club and fist. It was a world where love, happiness, joy or resistance found no meaning. This was the situation I found myself in until I escaped to China, and then South Korea. There, I was told why I was imprisoned by my distant relatives, who had escaped to the South during the Korean War.
In the midst of that conflict, two of my father's brothers fled to freedom. Because of this "traitorous" crime, my grandparents, father and uncle back in the North were found guilty of treason and crimes against the state, and were arrested. My father and uncle were separated from each other and my grandparents, and were stripped of all identification and property.
I am still not sure why my mother was incarcerated. While serving their sentences in Kaechon, my parents were allowed to marry. (Sometimes, inmates are given permission to marry if they work very hard and find favor in the eyes of the State Security agents). This was how both my brother and I were born as political prisoners.Although we were a family by fiat, there was nothing familial about us. We showed no affection for one another, nor was that even possible.
When I was 14 years old, my mother and brother were arrested while trying to escape. Although I had no idea they were planning to run away, I was detained in another part of prison. The State Security agents there demanded that I reveal what my family was conspiring to do. I was tortured severely for seven months. To this day, I still carry the scars on my back and shudder at the memory of that time.
On Nov. 29, 1996, my mother and brother were found guilty of treason and sentenced to public execution. I was taken outside and forced to witness their deaths. [. . .]
As I sit here writing this op-ed comfortably in Seoul, I can't help but wonder at the vastly different lives South Koreans and inmates of Political Prison Camp No. 14 live. In South Korea, although there is disappointment and sadness, there is also so much joy, happiness and comfort. In Kaechon, I did not even know such emotions existed. The only emotion I ever knew was fear: fear of beatings, fear of starvation, fear of torture and fear of death. [. . .]
These political prisoners live with no dignity as human beings. They are treated, and taught, that they are merely beasts without intelligence, emotions or dreams. If a prisoner attempts to escape, he is severely punished and will most likely be publicly executed.
Humans should never be treated this way. It is time for us to stand up for those being persecuted in North Korean gulags. They do not deserve to die in silence. We must protest these violent acts against humanity. We must become their voice.
Read the entire incredible op-ed.
Posted by Tom at 12:00 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
December 15, 2007
$20 million for that?
I've already shared my views many times on performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball, so I didn't want to comment on the Mitchell Commission Report until I had an opportunity to read it. Now that I have, here's my bottom-line conclusion: $20 million for that?
What is initially most striking about the Mitchell Report is its sloppiness (couldn't they even fix the line spacing and pagination before publishing the damn thing?). The only hard evidence in the 400 plus page report is exhibit D, which contains copies of checks and money orders that players and trainers allegedly used to buy performance-enhancing drugs from Kirk Radomski. Thus, in almost two years of "work," the only hard evidence that the Mitchell Commission could generate is that which was given to them by federal prosecutors who investigated and prosecuted Radomski, and then leaned on him to talk with the commission. There is a discussion dealing with the BALCO and Signature pharmacy investigations, but the product of the rest of the commission's work is statements attributed to anonymous and a relatively few named individuals who contend that they know about certain players who used performance-enhancing drugs.
Meanwhile, the report's lack of perspective is stunning. One section is actually devoted to sportswriter comments on baseball and steroids! What is that doing in a supposedly serious report? There is no mention of the scientific uncertainty regarding the impact that steroids and other PEDs have on performance in baseball. Similarly, there is no statistical analysis to support the report's suggestion that PED use was even a meaningful factor in the elevated hitting levels of the late 1990's. As anyone who follows baseball knows, there were numerous variables besides performance-enhancing drugs that impacted the surge in hitting during the late 1990's.
And that's not all. The report fails to place its findings in the context of the fact that MLB had no enforceable policy or regulation banning steroids until September 2002, did not have a testing program until 2004 and did not ban human growth hormone until 2005. As a number of commentators have already noted, why on earth are Mark McGwire and other ballplayers being condemned for taking androstenedione (a supplement that produces testosterone) when it could be purchased over-the-counter and didn't even violate MLB rules at the time?
But what is arguably most galling about the Mitchell Commission Report is its utter lack of historical perspective regarding the use of PEDs within the highly-competitive environment of professional baseball. Performance-enhancing drugs have been a mainstay of professional baseball for at least the past two generations. Before the steroid era, the PED of choice in MLB was amphetamines, which -- as with steroids over the past decade -- were used liberally and with the tacit consent of the MLB clubs. Amidst the catcalls from some corners that players who used steroids should be denied entry into the Hall of Fame, it should be noted that no serious consideration has even been given to denying a place in the Hall to star players who used amphetamines during their careers.
As with steroids, amphetamine use was the direct result of the physically-draining nature of the MLB season and the pathologically competitive environment that the MLB owners promote and MLB fans love. The players who took steroids and other PED's over the past decade were attempting to improve their bodies' capacity to endure that punishing workload (regardless of whether their protocols were really effective), just as the players who used amphetamines in earlier eras were attempting to improve their attention span and reaction time.
Isn't it ironic that the Mitchell Commission and much of the mainstream media vilifies professional ballplayers who used PEDs in an attempt to prevent their bodies from breaking down, while MLB management and the same mainstream media for decades have lauded "tough" injured players who "played with pain" through their ailments, even as MLB clubs pressured medication on the players, often at serious risk to the players' health and careers?
The Mitchell Commission didn't have